Examples

Optum Chief Executive Larry Renfro said his company "shares Monarch HealthCare's commitment to bringing patients, physicians, hospitals and health care payers closer together in the mission to increase the quality and affordability of care."

Typically, a company like Optum might buy non-clinical assets and sign a long-term management agreement with an independent practice association of physicians such as Monarch, according to Anthony Hunter Schiff , a health-care attorney who isn't involved in the transaction.

The purchase of the management arm of Monarch HealthCare, an Irvine, Calif., association that includes approximately 2,300 physicians in a range of specialties, establishes United's Optum health-services unit as a formidable presence in the region.